Employee communications, especially around open enrollment period, continue to be a challenge for benefits teams each year. The list of obstacles is long: presenting complicated information in a simplified manner, cutting through the noise, reaching spouses who may be making family health care decisions, connecting with remote workers and those without a computer, and messaging to different demographics, ages and income levels. Oh, and benefits teams must accomplish all of these goals with limited resources and little-to-no-budget. 

Despite these challenges, meeting your benefits communications goals is achievable with a proven approach. This checklist is culled from years of success stories and gives you a playbook for upping your game. 

1. Define your communications goals and celebrate your successes. Before you begin your first project timeline, outline exactly what you would like to achieve this year, and how communications can support those objectives. Are you looking to boost enrollment in lower-premium plans with tax-advantaged accounts? Are you aiming to reduce the amount of time your benefits team spends answering questions and correcting employees' enrollment errors?